The gouwzee, a good spot to learn and grow as a speedsurfer. I haven't sailed all winddirections but in the picture you can see what I have experienced and heard from the locals. The next WSW should be the day to put good speeds on this spot for me, only when it is high tide in Den Helder it will not happen... (because of other interest in real flat water)
Northeast was a real nice experience (begin this month), the water was real flat (beside the longer waves). For doing Nautical Mile, hour record, training and testing the winddirection NE is perfect. You can feel directly if the crosswind speed is OK, when you don't reach 28kn crosswind the locals will give you a hard time ;), the local competition level is really high
Northwest or West-Northwest was also interesting but my experience was less good since my RSS broke on this day. I believe on a fast 80 liters board it would be possible to do 38kn topspeed and 35kn average without taking to much risks.
West-Southwest seems to be the fastest winddirection to the local speedsurfers Aart-Jan van Zadelhoff and Pelle Swart. I think the spot is in the ZW corner of the Gouwzee, but I am not 100% sure. I will test the WSW potential when there is an oppurtunity for me. Some other speedlegends like Peter Volwater, Peter Heida and Peter de Wit also did good speed, but not really clear at what spot/winddirection. If Peter is your first name the chance is high to do good speed on the Gouwzee according to the stats ;). Southwest seems to be a bit less perfect for the spot, but I guess it should be near as fast.
Other winddirections:
South = unreliable, unstable (like the whole Northwest of the Netherlands)
West = according to rumors there is a big windgap behind the village...
East/ South East= no idea
There are 2 places to start, mostly people start at the northern spot (except for western windflow).
Speedpotential 37-38kn average????
For more information please check the website of the local surfclub: www.mastvoet.nl
In My case the best day's I had on the gouwzee where with a South wind very good for crosswind speed testing and a occasional chop flight downwind
ReplyDeleteSoo South wind can be good? Interesting to go to Gouwzee with South wind, Amstelmeer is nothing with South
ReplyDeleteAnd NW is lousy on the Gouwzee. Which supposedly is great for the Amstelmeer. So you told me ;-)
ReplyDeleteAart-Jan
Your assumption concerning the best spot for WSW is not backed with our experience as locals.
ReplyDeleteFor me it turns out to be in right in the middle, where the chop is quite high indeed, but the waves are wide apart and much less disturbed by shoreline interference.
Maybe a day of really high winds (say 35+ knots) may merit another try up close to the levy.
Hey Aart-Jan,
ReplyDeleteI saw that your recordsession and I thought Pelle his was sailed with WSW. So I thought there must be something good :)